Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

Title: Blue Bloods

Author: Melissa De La Cruz

Genre: Young Adult

Series: Blue Bloods #1

Hardcover, 302 pages 

Publication: March 27, 2006 by Hyperion
Source: Personal library 
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When the Mayflower set sail in 1620, it carried on board the men and women who would shape America: Miles Standish; John Alden; Constance Hopkins. But some among the Pilgrims were not pure of heart; they were not escaping religious persecution. Indeed, they were not even human. They were vampires.

The vampires assimilated quickly into the New World. Rising to levels of enormous power, wealth, and influence, they were the celebrated blue bloods of American society.

The Blue Bloods vowed that their immortal status would remain a closely guarded secret. And they kept that secret for centuries. But now, in New York City, the secret is seeping out. Schuyler Van Alen is a sophomore at a prestigious private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes instead of the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates, and she lives with her reclusive grandmother in a dilapated mansion. Schuyler is a loner...and happy that way. Suddenly, when she turns fifteen, there is a visible mosaic of blue veins on her arm. She starts to crave raw food and she is having flashbacks to ancient times. Then a popular girl from her school is found dead... drained of all her blood. Schuyler doesn't know what to think, but she wants to find out the secrets the Blue Bloods are keeping. But is she herself in danger?

MY THOUGHTS

I read Blue Bloods back in middle school and it’s been over fifteen years since the book has been published. My taste in books has certainly evolved…a bit but one thing has always remained the same which is my love of vampires. They never go out of style, no matter the medium. Blue Bloods is a young adult novel, on the younger side following a group of influential preppy teens of upper east-side New York. Their world is all fashion and parties, until it gets turned upside-down when a fellow student is found dead with all her blood drained. The parents, council and police ruled the death as an accident, but the teens suspect something more sinister.

Blue Bloods is not only an old term to denote people born of wealth but it’s also an indicator of those with vampirism due to the high pigment in the veins while humans were called ‘Red Bloods’. Readers follow along as Schuyler, Bliss, Jack and their friends learn about their history and integration into vampire society. I loved how the author incorporated history into the story of the famous Mayflower voyage to the first settlement of Plymouth Rock and the mysterious disappearance of the lost colony of Roanoke. The overall atmosphere of the book may seem very young and superficial with all the designer name drops, which to be honest was overkill but if one can look past that; there is an engaging story to be discovered. So much so, that after all these years I still found myself enjoying the book and do plan on continuing with the series.

I think one of the reasons why this series was so popular back then was because the adaptation of Gossip Girl came right on the heel of Blue Bloods’ release and this entire series is basically a mash-up of Gossip Girl with vampires. All the adolescent drama plus the supernatural. And during the 2000s vampires were all the rage. As I said it was an enjoyable read and I can’t wait to read the next book. It's been a very long time but jumping back into the world felt like it was just yesterday.  I would definitely recommend this to a younger audience or anyone looking for something light and fun. 

The Restorer by Amanda Stevens

Title: The Restorer
Author: Amanda Stevens
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: The Graveyard Queen # 1

Mass Market Paperback, 376 Pages 
Publication: April 19, 2011 by Mira

Source: Personal Library

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My name is Amelia Gray. I'm a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.

It started with the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I've been hired to restore. The clues to the killer, and to his other victims, lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

I read The Restorer when it first came out but now, I can’t recall any of the story; so I thought a re-read was in order. The Restorer is part ghost story and part murder mystery, my two favorite things.

What I loved about The Restorer is that it took place in beautiful graveyards. Amelia, our heroine restores them for a living. She lived a quiet life of solitude and normally keeps everyone at bay as her father taught…until a body turns up in a graveyard she worked in. With Amelia’s expertise, she is called in to be a consultant on the murder investigation. But as more bodies are discovered, Amelia realizes that she’s in over her head, and two bodies may be a coincidence but three is a pattern. It is up to Amelia and Detective Devlin to find the killer before more bodies turn up dead.

The Restorer is one creepy novel and I can’t imagine it being set anywhere but the south. Charleston was the perfect setting for it. A city with plenty of rich history…and one I hope visit one day! Stevens definitely kept me on my toes as we tried to figure out who the killer was and their motives. And when both questions got answer I was quite surprised because I didn’t expect said person. So kudos for that! My only complaints was the reveal was literally in the last two chapters and everything was resolved quickly thereafter. I felt the plot/mystery was a tad too drawn out.

Amelia was Amelia. I liked her well enough as a lead but didn’t find her all that special or interesting. And as I mentioned before Amelia lived a quiet life and did everything by the books. However, that all went down the drain when she’s pulled into the investigation and gets a bi too obsessed with Devlin. I say obsessed because there wasn’t a moment that went by that she wasn’t talking or daydreaming about Devlin. It got to the point of distracting and annoying. As for Devlin, he was a walking enigma but one I didn’t care to decipher. I found their chemistry unbelievable and had a hard time connecting with both characters, which made it hard to invest into the story itself. It was a good plot and all but I never feel immersed in it or invested in the characters or the overall outcome of the book. Which is unfortunate because I remembered loving it when I first read it.

The Restorer is a good ghost mystery but I don’t think I’d be continuing with the series.